June 13, 2014

Corporate America's Support For Pride Month Makes Us Feel Good

I know that for me, when I saw Google’s doodle on their homepage in support of the LGBT Olympic athletes competing at the winter games in Sochi, Russia, I felt proud. The Google doodle made me feel good about myself, and made me feel good about Google.

During Gay Pride month, if you use Google as your search engine, and search for certain LGBT related websites, you’ll see a rainbow banner across the top of your search results. This is the second year in a row that Google displayed their “Gay Pride.”

The travel website Hotwire has a new television ad campaign that feature’s two gay Dads.

Two years ago, Kraft Food’sOreo cookie brand produced an ad with a rainbow cookie, exhorting people to “proudly support love,” on the brand’s Facebook page.

This public display of support raised the hackles of evangelical (non) Christians. On a religious message board forum, many of the comments resembled this one from BTNYC. “I've refused to buy Nabisco since they first starting using the Oreo brand to peddle sodomy to children two years ago,” he said.

Basil Maglaris, Kraft's associate director of corporate affairs, told the Chicago Tribune that the positive comments on Facebook have "far outnumbered" negative ones. "As a company, Kraft Foods has a proud history of celebrating diversity and inclusiveness. We feel the Oreo ad is a fun reflection of our values."

When I first saw the Oreo ad, I went out that night and bought Oreo cookies, because that’s the best way I knew how to support the company.

Edge National News Editor Jason St. Amand wrote about the controversyHoney Maid’s support created in right-wing conservative circles.

Earlier this year, Nabisco’s Honey Maid created an inclusive campaign highlighting alternative families, featuring a family with two dads -- but the graham cracker company came under fire from the conservative Christian right. It looks like One Million Moms’ criticism hasn’t deterred Honey Maid from making another LGBT-friendly commercial, however.

As the Huffington Post reports, Honey Maid has put together another campaign for Pride month. The company tweeted a gif last Thursday, coming out in support of the LGBT community with a play on the Human Rights Campaign’s iconic equality symbol: the two equal signs were replaced with two graham crackers.

"What makes a family, family, will always be the same. Share this to show your support for all families #LGBTPride," the tweet reads.

On Monday, the snack company also tweeted: "Pride is family. #Pridemonth"

I don’t know about you, but when I see these public displays of support from corporate America, I applaud them because it makes me feel good. I also do everything in my power to support their efforts, and support their brand, if the product is a good one.

LGBT Pride month is about celebrating diversity and inclusiveness, and Google, Nordstrom, Honey Maid, Hotwire, and Oreo cookies, are great brands that are easy to support, because they personify our values.